New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date

Date:
September 20, 2013
Source:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Summary:
Carbon nanotubes’ outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties make them an alluring material to electronics manufacturers. However, until recently scientists believed that growing the high density of tiny graphene cylinders needed for many microelectronics applications would be difficult. Now a team from Cambridge University in England has devised a simple technique to increase the density of nanotube forests grown on conductive supports about five times over previous methods.
Share:
FULL STORY

Carbon nanotubes' outstanding mechanical, electrical and thermal properties make them an alluring material to electronics manufacturers. However, until recently scientists believed that growing the high density of tiny graphene cylinders needed for many microelectronics applications would be difficult.

Now a team from Cambridge University in England has devised a simple technique to increase the density of nanotube forests grown on conductive supports about five times over previous methods. The high density nanotubes might one day replace some metal electronic components, leading to faster devices. The researchers report their finding in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which is produced by AIP Publishing.

"The high density aspect is often overlooked in many carbon nanotube growth processes, and is an unusual feature of our approach," says John Robertson, a professor in the electronic devices and materials group in the department of engineering at Cambridge. High-density forests are necessary for certain applications of carbon nanotubes, like electronic interconnects and thermal interface materials, he says.

Robertson and his colleagues grew carbon nanotubes on a conductive copper surface that was coated with co-catalysts cobalt and molybdenum. In a novel approach, the researchers grew at lower temperature than is typical which is applicable in the semiconductor industry. When the interaction of metals was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, it revealed the creation of a more supportive substrate for the forests to root in. The subsequent nanotube growth exhibited the highest mass density reported so far.

"In microelectronics, this approach to growing high-density carbon nanotube forests on conductors can potentially replace and outperform the current copper-based interconnects in a future generation of devices," says Cambridge researcher Hisashi Sugime. In the future, more robust carbon nanotube forests may also help improve thermal interface materials, battery electrodes, and supercapacitors.


Story Source:

Materials provided by American Institute of Physics (AIP). Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Hisashi Sugime, Santiago Esconjauregui, Junwei Yang, Lorenzo D'Arsié, Rachel A. Oliver, Sunil Bhardwaj, Cinzia Cepek, John Robertson. Low temperature growth of ultra-high mass density carbon nanotube forests on conductive supports. Applied Physics Letters, 2013; 103 (7): 073116 DOI: 10.1063/1.4818619

Cite This Page:

American Institute of Physics (AIP). "Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 September 2013. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130920111248.htm>.
American Institute of Physics (AIP). (2013, September 20). Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 8, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130920111248.htm
American Institute of Physics (AIP). "Densest array of carbon nanotubes grown to date." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130920111248.htm (accessed October 8, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES